Everyone is noting the snub of HBO’s “Girls” in Thursday’s Emmy nominations. Only a guest appearance and a supporting actor were recognized, nothing else, most notably the series itself and its creator Lena Dunham . Fans are gobsmacked by the snub, but shouldn’t be. Dunham closed out last year embroiled in a crippling scandal after Breitbart News broke an investigative report proving that through her autobiography, Dunham falsely accused a man of being her rapist.
Moreover, although she was aware of it, although the rape charge was the tip of the spear of her book promotion tour, for months, as this innocent man lived under Dunham’s false accusation, Dunham said and did nothing. Instead, she and her publisher Random House stood silent as book sales and accolades piled up, and both became even wealthier.
Cowards in the left-wing media like NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, Bill Simmons, and the Daily Beast’s Amy Zimmerman tried to paper over Dunham’s unconscionable behavior. Nevertheless, the fallout from the scandal was instantaneous. Ratings for the spring season of “Girls” dipped at times to historic lows, and Dunham’s attempt to move her star outside the bubble of HBO and into the mainstream (the all-girls “Ghostbusters” was mentioned) quickly vanished.
Dunham’s star is clearly on the wane. Even as Hollywood presents a public face in support of and enthrall of Dunham, we all know that this scandal hangs over her like a dark cloud. It follows her everywhere, and always will.
Regardless of one’s politics, no decent person can abide someone falsely accusing another, much less of a crime as serious as rape. No decent person can understand why a anyone would exploit her own rape for political gain (Dunham loudly and falsely accused a Republican of raping her).
To get richer and more famous, by victimizing another, is just beyond the beyond.
With “Girls” shredding viewers in its fourth season, Dunham’s other problem is looking for a soft place to land after the show’s inevitable cancellation in a year or two. The book tour was Dunham’s attempt to go mainstream, to build a life after her HBO show ended, but that blew up in her face along with her craven lies.
There’s news Dunham is launching a feminist web site, which sounds about right. Dunham is now so marginalized and damaged by her own despicable behavior that she no longer has any real options beyond The Bubbled Echo Chamber of Left-Wing Feminism.
And even that bubble is shrinking to a point where no one wants to award her any shiny metal trophies.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC